Windshield for leers



April 28, 1931. Q NAGLE 1,803,632

WINDSHAIELD FOR LEERS Filed March 28, 1928 Z Tl/QE F191 ff@ InventorWitness.' ClaudejVaZe VWM v ,yw MW Patented Apr. 28,1931

UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE CLAUDE NAGLE, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORTO HARTFORD-EMPIRE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OFDELAWARE WINDSHIELD FOR LEERS Application led March 28, 1928. Serial No.265,297.

perature and then to reduce that temperature gradually at a suitablerate to prevent strains from being setl up in the glass articles.

It has been found that the maintenance of the proper temperature in thistype of leer .is often interfered with by the enterino' of cold aircurrents at either end of the eer'. Such external drafts are moredetrimental when they enter the' hot or receiving end of the leer ratherthan the cool end. This is because it is in the earlier stages ofannealing that the ware is most sensitive to temperature variations, andtherefore the air entering the cool end of the leer` must pass throughnearly the full length of the heated tunnel before it blows on the ware-in its critical stage of annealing, while drafts entering the hot endof the leer reach the ware very promptly with very little intermediateheating.

-3o the leer.

An object of the invention is to prevent such cold air currents fromentering the leer, specifically by the provision of means for creatingan air shield across the end of The statements made above as to thesensitiveness of the ware in the early stages of annealing to externaldrafts also apply to. means for controlling air currents at thereceiving end, unless such means are adjusted with a high degree ofaccuracy. The means employed by the present invention to preventindrafts of air at the receiving end of the leer not only controls'suchdrafts at the place where they are most detrimental, but does it withoutintroducing irregularities of control which would, in themselves, bemore or less detrimental.

This -air shield not only prevents disturbancef. of the heat conditionsin the leer, but also fserves to increase the comfort of the persons whoserve the leer when it 1s loaded by hand, by maintaining a coolenvironment at the receiving end at which ware is introduced into theleer.

These and other objects of the invention will more fully appear in thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the receiving end of a tunnel leershowing one embodiment of the invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upper pat of the apparatus as shownin Fig. 1, an

Fig. 3 is a modification of the means for holding the apparatus inplace, particularly adapted for use with a mechanical leer loader.

The leervindicated in the drawings ma be such as is described. in detailinU. Patent No. 1,560,481 granted November 3, 1925, to Hartford-EmpireC0. as assignee of Vergil Mulholland, but it is to be understood thatthe` present invention is not limited to that particular type of leer.

The receiving end of the leer tunnel is indicated at 11. An opening 12to the leer tunnel is controlled by means of a vertically adjustabledoor or gate 13 which varies the o ening 12 to accommodate glassware ofdi erent heights. A conveyor 14 traveling in the direction indicated bythe arrow A carries the glassware which is being annealed. l

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the wind-box l5 is mounted outside of thetunnel 11 and slightly in advance of the openin 12. As indicated at 16,the lower part o thevrear wall of the wind-box 15 isjcurved forwardly toprovide an orifice 17 which preferably extends the entire width of theleer tunnel. The wind-box 15 is supported in the ways or guides 18 andmay be adjusted to various posltions therein. The wind-box 15 is thenheld in adjusted position by the pins 19, one at each edge of thewind-box. Each pin passes through one of a series of holes in a guide 18and engages a hole 20, one of the latter named holes being provided ineach side of the wind-box. Air is supplied through the conduit 21 from asuitable source, not shown. The end of this conduit has a cross sectionwhich is thin or flat so that the end of the conduit may slide readilythrough the opening 23 in the wind-box 15. This slidable connectionbetween the end 22 of the conduit and the wind-box permits adjustment ofthe wind-box in the guides 18 without any change in the position of theconduit. Y

In operation, a constant current of air moving in the directionindicated by the arrows B revents the a'ir immediately in front of t eleer from becoming greatly heated. The passage of the air through 'thewind-box also serves to keep its temperature down and makes it moreeffective as a heat barrier for the radiated heat.

Another and the more important result of this arrangement is theshielding from the leer tunnel of drafts of air tending to blow into thehot end of the leer. The ideal condition is to have neither indrafts norOutdrafts, but to have the air motionless in the leer tunnel. From apractical standpoint this is impossible and, as it is at the hot end ofthe leer that the glass is most sensitive to thermal changes, the usualpractice is to have a slight current of air from the cool end of theleer tunrel toward the hot end and therefore a slight outdraft of air atthe receiving end. Decided drafts externally of the leer may at timesovercome this slight outdraft and force cool air into the tunnel withvery detrimental results. The blast of air provided by this arrangementserves to counteract these external drafts which are irregular in theirnature and occurrence.

In some of the more modern plants, the glassware is placed on theconveyor by an automatic stacker, thus dispensing with the services ofthe carrying-in boy. In such cases, the use of the Wind-box 15 as aradiation shield is no longer necessary. Fig. 3 shows a modifiedarrangement for such a leer. The wind-box 15, being no longer used as aradiation shield, and sometimes being in the wayof the mechanism of theautomatic stacker, is fastened directly to the door or gate 13 and moveswith the gate when the latter is adjusted in position. Flexible means,as a hose 24, may be used to connect the wind-box with a suitable sourceof air supply. In this modiication, the only purpose is to counteractlthe tendency of the external air to set up indrafts of air. The blast ofair discharging from the orifice 17 is downward and across the opening12 but should not blow directly on the ware as it passes along on theconveyor although the momentary passage of the ware through the blast ofair is not detrimental.

It is to be understood that the different embodiments of 'the inventiondescribed above are for the purpose of illustration only, and variouschanges may be made therein and other modifications used in place C5thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.v

I claim:

1. For a tunnel leer having an opening at the receiving end thereof, aradiation shield adjacent to said opening and outside said tunnel, saidshield having an air assage extending therethrough, and means orsupplying air to the inlet end of such passage, said passage having anoriiice at its outlet end for discharging 'the air across and away fromsaid opening.

2. Apparatus for annealing glassware, comprising a tunnel having theends thereof open to the outer atmosphere, one end being for thereception of the lassware and having an adjustable door or controllingthe height of the opening to the tunnel, a windbox attached to said doorand adjustable therewith, said wind-box having a'discharge orificedirected across the entrance to said tunnel.

3. Apparatus for annealing glassware, comprising a tunnel having theends thereof open to the outer atmosphere, one end being for thereception of the Glassware and having an adjustable door Ior controllingthe height of the opening to the tunnel, a windbox attached to said doorand adjustable therewith, said wind-box extending the width of saidopening and having a discharge orifice directed across the entrance tosaid tunnel.

4. The combination with a tunnel leer having an opening at the receivingend thereof, of a radiation shield adjacent to said opening and outsidesaid tunnel, said shield having an air passage extending therethrough,means for supplying air to the inlet end of such passage, said passagehaving an orifice at its outlet end for discharging the air away fromsaid opening, and means for adjustably varying the vertical distancebetween said oriice and the ioor of said tunnel when annealing glassarticles of varying heights.

Signed at Elmira, N. Y., this 26th-day of March, 1928.

CLAUDE NAGLE.

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